iPhone/iPad iOS music making app round-up: Week 65

A magnificent seven

Something for everyone

One of the great things about iOS devices is that pretty much anyone - regardless of age or ability - can use them to make music. This week’s apps demonstrate this, running the gamut from a child-friendly composing tool to a full-on virtual studio.

Morton Subotnick Pitch Painter, £1.99

Compatibility: iPad (requires iOS 5.0 or later)

Any iPad owner who has children will tell you that the little perishers can’t keep their hands off it, so why not let them make some music? Designed for kids aged 3-5, Pitch Painter enables you to paint notes onto a canvas and then play them back as a sequence. DJ-style scrubbing and editing features are also included.

Intelligent Gadgets MIDI Mandala, £0.69

Compatibility: iPhone, iPod touch, iPad (requires iOS 4.3 or later)

A circular MIDI controller app that places the lowest pitched note in the centre and higher ones out towards the edge. Aftertouch controls enable you to make further adjustments to volume and pitch, and you can choose from a range of musical scales.

dlab APG Composer, Free

Compatibility: iPad (requires iOS 4.0 or later)

A 3-voice FM synth combined with an implementation of a Logique Analogique sequencer. This triggers notes when a weighted sum of different signals exceeds a specific threshold. The app is powered by the Audio Plugin Generator and is free.

Audanika SoundPrism Pro 2.5, £10.99

Compatibility: iPhone, iPod touch, iPad (requires iOS 4.2 or later)

This highly regarded app has been given another significant update. As well as support for the new iPad’s Retina screen, there’s MIDI In (so that you can control SoundPrism with other controllers and apps), an enhanced MIDI spec and usability improvements.

Holderness Media Waviary, £1.49

Compatibility: iPad (requires iOS 4.3 or later)

Available on numerous platforms, Waviary is a piece of musical artwork, an instrument, an ambient music machine and virtual wind chimes in one. You can easily create soundscapes using the multitouch control surface or just leave the app to go to work on its own.

Retronyms Tabletop 1.5, Free

Compatibility: iPad (requires iOS 4.3 or later)

One of the criticisms that’s been levelled at Tabletop relates to its piece-by-piece in-app purchasing model, but you can now buy discounted bundles which makes things easy and cheaper (the core app is free these days). AudioCopy is now in place too, as is CloudSeeker, a new community platform that’s powered by SoundCloud.

Noe Guerrero eSonar, £0.69

Compatibility: iPhone, iPod touch, iPad (requires iOS 4.3 or later)

eSonar is novel sample-based groove machine app that is played by dragging and dropping sounds onto a circular 'sonar'-style grid. You can drop drum, bass, synth and FX hits onto it, adjusting the pitch by moving each sound closer or further away from the circle’s epicentre. Check out a promo video to see eSonar in action.